Global Economy Bursting?

[Randolph Kinney]

Jobs Aren't Leaving California For Texas, But People Are

http://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/...-leaving-california-for-texas-but-people-are/

Let’s take a closer look at California versus Texas. What does Texas have that Californians want? Cheaper housing, more jobs, and lower taxes.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Wall Street Setting Itself Up For Next Derivatives Crisis

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/14/wall-street-derivatives_n_2681610.html?utm_hp_ref=business

A crucial change in the way financial derivatives are packaged and sold on Wall Street is enabling traders to bypass new regulations aimed at limiting reckless speculation, enhancing the prospect of another derivatives crisis, warn some market participants.


One Step Toward Rethinking Taxes

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/b....html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130215

One principle that the Camp proposal would establish is to provide what the congressman calls “uniform tax treatment of financial derivatives.” The definition of derivative is very wide — it includes short sales of stock as well as options, swaps and futures.

Under the Camp proposal, a derivative could create only ordinary gains or losses no matter how long it was held. And changes in value would be subject to tax every year, as the market price changed, whether or not the investor sold. There could never be a long-term capital gain involving a derivative, and therefore the investor could never qualify for the preferential tax rate on long-term capital gains.

There are many tax-oriented strategies to create differing tax treatments for what are actually offsetting investments. The idea is to have a loss treated as ordinary income, and recognized as soon as possible, while the offsetting gain is delayed and then treated as a long-term capital gain if that is possible.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Financial Crisis Cost Tops $22 Trillion, GAO Says

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...s-cost-gao_n_2687553.html?utm_hp_ref=business

 

[Restrain]

RE, rethinking taxes. I buy an item. I hold the item for 5 years. I sell the item. AT THAT POINT, I make a profit or loss. Doesn't matter if it's a derivative, a stock, real estate, or an antique. To attempt to tax on a "paper" profit is not a good idea. Look at what has happened with real estate taxes. You are taxed on your potential "profit" on your home, resulting in that even if you own your home free and clear, you are having to pay the state/city/county/school for the right to remain in that home based on the potential "profit" you would make on selling the home.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

The hoped for tax the U.S. wants is coming to Europe.

Double taxation row as Brussels unveils transactions levy

http://euobserver.com/economic/119072

BRUSSELS - The European Commission was under fire Thursday (14 February) over claims that its planned tax on financial transactions (FTT) would lead to double taxation.

Unveiling the plans for an FTT backed by 11 EU countries, Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta said that it was a "fair, technically sound and legally robust tax."

The proposal puts a 0.1 percent levy on bonds and shares and 0.01 percent on derivative products. Measures have also been put in place to prevent traders from circumventing the system by operating from outside the EU-11.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Guerrilla War Against Surveillance Cameras Hits America

http://www.mfi-miami.com/2013/02/guerrilla-war-against-surveillance-cameras-hits-america/

 

[Randolph Kinney]

From Watery Bourbon To Horse-Meat Chili: Hidden Inflation Is Everywhere

http://www.businessinsider.com/self...ed-down-bourbon-an-insidious-inflation-2013-2

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Horse-Meat Chili

Bad jokes - Sign said "Rabbit Stew $1"... So customer asks waitress how they could make it so cheap. She replies we use 50% horsemeat in it... "Oh...but that still sounds cheap." She replied, "Yeah, 1 rabbit, 1 horse"

Lady complains to Butcher. "These sausages taste like they are half sawdust." He replies, "Lady, it's the economy. It's hard to make both ends meat."

 

[Randolph Kinney]

How gold will benefit from a currency war

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-gold-will-benefit-from-a-currency-war-2013-02-15

"We are now moving irrevocably to a time when gold will measure currencies, not currencies measure gold, ..."

 

[Randolph Kinney]

America's financial downfall: No retirement money to retire on

http://www.naturalnews.com/039124_retirement_plans_paying_bills.html

Is chronic, slow economic growth and rising poverty the new normal for America and Americans? Unfortunately, for an increasing number of people, the answer is yes.

According to recent reports, a large and growing portion of American workers who are having trouble making ends meet because of rising costs are being forced to raid their retirement accounts for non-retirement needs, "raising broad questions about the effectiveness of one of the most important savings vehicles for old age," The Boston Globe said.

In fact, more than one in four - a staggering 25 percent of workers - with 401(k) and similar retirement savings accounts are now using them to pay current bills, new data indicates.

The monetary figure is alarming: A quarter of the $293 billion deposited in such accounts each year is now being drained via loans, withdrawals and out-right cash-outs, "undermining already shaky retirement security for millions of Americans," the paper said.

Because of their irresponsibility, policymakers will now have to cut the Social Security and Medicare benefits at some point - benefits that millions of Americans who paid into both systems were counting on to make it through retirement.